(Original article was published on monobclothing.com/blog on January 30, 2020.)
We get it, you love fashion, and so do we! But we’re also aware that the fashion industry is the second-largest Earth polluter, just behind the oil industry. On a side note, it takes fossil fuels to create fibers like polyester, nylon, and viscose.
The year 2020 marks Mono B’s eleventh anniversary. Last year we released Mono B MEN, our range of activewear, athleisure apparel, and loungewear for men. Two years ago, we released Mono B SWIM (and we can’t wait to launch more of our swimwear line this summer). This year, though, is special. This is the year Mono B goes one step further and improves our activewear collection by adding Mono B GREEN, featuring leggings and sports bras made using either 100% recycled polyester or 100% recycled nylon.
Unlike cotton, virgin polyester and virgin nylon fibers aren’t found in nature, and it takes human ingenuity to discover it and perfect it.
Polyester, which is a polymer, can be found in plastic, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. And yes, you have probably seen photos of PET bottles littering the beach. They’re not just unsightly, they’re also terrible for the environment. Polymers may take thousands of years to decompose and break down, so why not recycle them?
Some items from the Mono B GREEN activewear line use 100% post-consumer recycled polyester. Post-consumer because the polyester chips came from PET bottles and other recyclable polymer items.
These 100% recycled polyester fibers are from a Chinese company called Jiaren. Jiaren is a joint venture between the Tokyo-based, Japanese company Teijin Ltd., and Jinggong Holding Group, a Shaoxing-based international enterprise in environment management. Teijin perfected the use of ECO-CIRCLE technology, which enables polymer to be recycled without losing its quality.
The rest of the Mono B GREEN activewear use 100% pre-consumer-recycled nylon. During production, tons of nylon fabrics become scraps. The recycling industry collects these scraps and turns them into nylon chips, that they later spin into nylon threads ready to be woven into activewear.
The 100% recycled nylon fibers come from GREENLON nylon yarns. The production of these yarns saves energy up to 8.5%, water consumption up to 84%, whilst reducing CO2 emission up to 77% compared to virgin nylon fibers.
By now, you’ve probably seen activewear with recyclable fabrics being sold for hundreds of dollars. Well, not ours. At Mono B, we believe that an active life is crucial – this is exactly why we’re in the activewear business. That’s why the Mono B GREEN activewear items are within our price range, leaving it possible for you to make more margins.